It wouldn’t be a proper visit of New York City, if you missed the best city view! Top of the Rock Observation Deck is a can’t miss New York attraction, especially in the spring! Seventy floors up, right in the heart of Rockefeller Center, you’ll experience the most breaking views in the city, with indoor and outdoor viewing decks that offer 360 degrees of skyline.. 

I don’t know WHEN the people from Instagram take their super sunny pictures with endless view of NYC, the Empire State Building & Central Park. Because whenever I am in the city, it’s cloudy, foggy and smoggy… And I’m in the city quite often. But I know WHERE you can get the best view for your Instagram pictures… From the Top of the Rockefeller Center a.k.a. Top of the Rock!

Top of the Rock

Our flights from Abu Dhabi to JFK belong to the hardest and most tiring ones so most of the cabin crew usually stay at the hotel sleeping for whole layover. Usually I’m not the exemption, but from time to time I grab some last sources of energy and take the train to the city. Because… It’s New York! And this time I have my good friend Julia on board with me so we have to take the opportunity even though it’s cloudy agaaaain! I’ve booked the ticket for Top of the Rock easily online on topoftherocknyc.com with a specific date and time of entrance. Usually it’s overcrowded, so think about it in advance. But I’ve managed to find the suitable date for us few minutes before leaving our hotel. When we reach the gates, we are told by security that there is ZERO visibility upstairs. And we are allowed to come another time with the same ticket. “Is it gonna be better later today?” asks Julia. “Not today,” is the honest answer. But as we have only 24 hours in NYC we will decide to go up anyway. Visibility is really bad, but the atmosphere is still great… And there is almost ZERO tourists! 

Practical info

Top of the Rock is open daily from 8:00 am to midnight. Last elevator goes up at 11:00 pm. Entrance fee is $38 and it’s always better to book it online. Top of the Rock operates on a timed ticketing system. When purchasing your ticket, you can select the exact time that works best for you. If you’re not sure, when you want to go, unscheduled tickets are also available. However, they must be exchanged for timed ticket prior to entry. Better weather, more tourists, more crowds, less options available. With VIP access you can enjoy the priority elevator access. With the CityPass voucher you can save some money and visit major attractions of NYC for cheaper prices. The main entrance to Top of the Rock is located on 50th Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenue. Look for the big red carpet! The view is fantastic any time of the day (if it’s not foggy) – by day or by night – so maybe consider buying Sun & Star combo pass…

Manhattan Bridge from Dumbo

Second most popular photo location of NYC. There’s a good chance this famous view has popped up in your Instagram feed at least once. Stand at the intersection of Water Street and Washington Street in Dumbo, and you’ll see Manhattan Bridge perfectly framed by two-red brick warehouses. (If you are using offline navigation, just put Dumbo.) For the real money shot, try to line it up so that the Empire State Building is in the far distance between the legs of the bridge. During the day is this street very busy so rather come early in the morning. Anyway, Brooklyn is in general very photogenic area if you wanna stroll around and look for some other pretty corners. Easily reached by metro. And nowadays many metro entrances have this facility to pay for the ride just by tapping your regular credit or debit card. 

I withdraw some dollars from the ATM and get on the train towards NYC! There are several ways to approach the Statue of Liberty. You can observe it from afar on the Brooklyn Bridge, or you can buy a ferry ticket. Many tourist companies sell several sightseeing tours, which also include a trip to our Lady L. It is up to you whether you decide only for a cruise around it or you want to dock at the Island of Liberty for a while. People are offering sightseeing trips around New York City at every corner. I get convinced right at the main exit of Penn station. For $ 55 I buy a two-day hop on / hop off tour with a cruise around the Statue of Liberty included. I know I can’t afford to stay in the city for more than one afternoon, but it still pays off. In my opinion, every tourist in New York should behave like an typical American tourist from the movies for at least one day, get on the roof of the double-decker bus and take off for a sightseeing tour around New York!

I hop on the bus at Penn station and from there I observe Manhattan’s streets from its top deck. First we pass the most famous shopping center in the world – Macy’s, then we continue around the flattest building in America – Iron flat building – through various corners of Manhattan to the statue of a Charging Bull and a Fearless Girl on the Wall street. I hop off the bus, but I can’t take a good picture of the statue, because there are too many Chinese tourists… From there it’s only a short walk to the port where I get on the ferry. This is followed by a cruise on the Hudson River around the Island of Liberty, giving us a wonderful view of Manhattan’s skyscrapers. As we approach Lady Liberty, I recall what Melody said in Woody Allen’s movie Whatever works: “There’s something about this Statue of Liberty…” I can’t stop thinking about since how many years this statue symbolized a promise of better life for immigrants coming to America from the old continent…

Once I finish my cruise, I hop on the bus again and get off in front of Macy’s, where I plan to flip my credit card a little. After quick but successful shopping transactions, I get back to Penn Station and as a proper New Yorker I just stop for a cup of coffee by Starbucks. And suddenly, uuups… My credit card stops working. I don’t panic yet and pull out the last cash from my pocket to pay the bill. Then I go to the nearest ATM. I still need to withdraw some money for the train ticket back to Long Island. But the ATM refuses to give me the money! Neither the second nor the third one nor the other four across the street. I’m trying to pay for a ticket at the kiosk using my card but unsuccessfully again. I use the automatic machine. With no result. No money in the pockets, the card obviously blocked, all the documents on Long Island, and just a couple of hours until my flight departure! This will be a bum! Sweat overflows and panic culminates. I am trying to return a purchase in the store, but the only willing shop assistant can promise me that they will send my money back on my bank account. (Because I paid by card, they can’t give me cash.) But my card doesn’t work!

How will I get back to Long Island? Shall I start begging passers-by for a few change on a train ticket? I have nothing else to do but just humbly return to Starbuck and ask for a refund for a sandwich and granola, which lie untouched in my bag. With a little soul I explain my situation to the Starbucks manager and fortunately he allows me to return and refund the snack I bought couple of minutes ago. He give me the money back and then also put the food back in the bag with the words: “Take it, anyway, we can’t sell it anymore. This can happen to anyone… “ Ashamed from my ears to toes, I take my money and my bag, and with a thousand times repeated humble “thank you” I run to the platform…

Do not rely solely on credit cards and always carry at least a small cash in local currency with you!

There’s definitely something about New York. I don’t even have to wear the latest Manol Blahnik’s shoes to feel different when walking around Manhattan. When I used to work for La Femme Magazine in Slovakia, I often felt like a Slovak version of Carrie Bradshaw (or maybe I just wanted to be like her). I was writing about men, friends and relationships, about the nightlife in my city and new trends. I loved fashion gadgets and dreamed of a career of writer. And here I am, a woman who is not chasing guys anymore, neither new fashion trends, but still having a special relationship with New York City…

My date with Big Apple starts at Long Island, where we are accommodated. A bit far from the city and in addition, in the hotel (Long Island Marriott), which is said to be haunted. On the eighth floor, two flight attendants hang themselves under unexplained circumstances, independently of each other. Some gossips say that it wasn’t random suicide, but something that made these girls to commit such a desperate act… But I don’t believe these crew stories. And I can get these spooky stories out of my head so perfectly that the fact that I have a room on the eighth floor I’ve realized when I’m in bed already. I rather lock the door and leave one small lamp turned on… just in case…

When I open my eyes in the morning, I realize I’m still in New York, whole, healthy and alive. It’s time to go to the city! First, I have to take a taxi from the hotel to the local train station. And from there by train to the famous Penn Station in the heart of New York City. Return ticket – $ 25. Uff! In about 50 minutes I get off in the underground maze. Even though I find the Tokyo subway to be the most confusing, the underground network of New York would be the second. It is worth holding a city map in your head and having a rough overview of what is located north from you and what’s south, or “uptown” and “downtow”, if you want, otherwise you may be moving the wrong direction. With the help of a map of underground lines, I find that the best way how to get to the Brooklyn Bridge, my first planned stop, is via lines A, C and E (while E runs only at night) in “downtown” direction. I get off in the park, just a short walk from the bridge. It is cold outside, still early morning, so the famous bridge is quite empty. An ideal opportunity to make photos without disturbing elements. On top of the bridge I meet one young man with a professional camera in his hand. As I find out, he is a hairstylist from Arizona who has just left Fashion Week to check out some top New York’s sights. When I enjoy the views of Manhattan enough, I go back to station and continue with line A, C, E (this time in uptown direction) back to Manhattan, to14th Street Station…

Why 14th Street? Because from here it’s just a few blocks to 66 Perry Street where Carrie Bradshaw Apartment is! Just walk on the 8th avenue, turn onto Bleecker street, walk two another blocks and you are there – on the well-known stairs where Carrie was kissing (not only) Mr. Big. The current owners of the house are not very excited about tourist visitors, so they put a sign in front of the house that forbids entry to the stairs. Despite that, there are crowds of fans who come here to pose as their heroine Carrie. But in the middle of February there is nobody, just me. I have to wait a few minutes to stop some random people passing by and ask them to take a picture of me. When I told the hairstylist from the Fashion Week on the Brooklyn Bridge where I was going, he didn’t get it: “And what’s there? Just some apartment?” JUST some apartment?! No way, it’s Carrie Bradshaw’s apartment! But guys can’t understand…

From Carrie’s house I continue with line A, C, E up to the Central Park. The frozen lake, snow cover and bare tree branches give the park a completely different look than we know from American movies. But for me it still has its charm. I cut it through the park eastwards to the main gate that leads to the ice rink and the Plaza Hotel (where Kevin from a movie Home Alone spent his Christmas adventure), then continue down to the famous 5th Avenue. And this one you definitely know! There is Tiffany store just like from movie a Breakfast at Tiffany or the Rockefeller Center with its magnificient Christmas tree, under which Jovie and Buddy had their first kiss in the movie Elf. However, in February you can see only the Prometheus’ golden statue instead of the Christmas tree.

Getting around Manhattan is no longer difficult. The streets do not have the names of the national heroes, as they do in Europe, but they are simply sorted by numbers. So if you are at the corner of 5th Avenue and the 47th Street and need to reach the 7th Avenue crossing 43rd street, you know that you just need to go two blocks to the right and four blocks straight. And here we go, Time Square in front of us! You can’t miss this crazy place full of illuminated banners! What would New York be without Time Square?! As I start to feel frozen, I go to defrost myself into my favorite American Eagle store. Later I have to restrain myself to not buy half of the store. But, what would America be without a shopping? From Time Square, it’s a short walk to Penn Station. When I’m passing by famous Macy’s shopping mall, I rather look to the other side to avoid all the advertisements promising SALES and -70%. It’s time to get back to Long Island and have a bit of rest before my long flight back to Abu Dhabi…